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Another Comeback win: Cincinnati College Prep 26 St. Bernard-Elwood Place 22 @SBEPAthletics @Coach_Pflug @AthleticsCcpa @PaFootballNews

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone

| August 30, 2020


Last night I made a rare trip to Cincinnati to catch a single game. Cincinnati College Prep Vs St. Bernard-Elmwood Place, At the home of Roger Bacon. Last year Prep won on the last play of the game and this year they almost waited that long to pull off another dramatic comeback win over the Titans.
This one started off with both teams showing nothing but rust on offense, as one might have expected, with no scrimmages and so much Chaos surrounding football players and teams thanks to the way the virus has not been handle With zero points scored in the opening quarter the defense took center stage. There were three plays that stuck out to me, First Nate Watson got to Kevin Benford for a short loss, then Zykeem Hunley picked off a Mark Smith pass. Smith in the game I watched him play last year made the biggest impression on me than any other play I watched, in the 112 games I took in. The final play came when Elijah Miller laid a Dick Butkus like hit on the Lions Jeff Ellis.
In the 2nd quarter Derrick Blount, the Lions back up QB was slung to the ground by Jaden Wood. Less than one minute later, Zykeem Hunley would score from 10 yards out, then Hunley connected with Jaden Wood on a two-point conversion pass making this an 8-0 the game, with 10:22 left in the half. After stuffing the Lions offense the Titans struck again when Hunley hit Wood for a 15-yard score. Wood made a diving catch as he did his best Michael Thomas impersonation. Hunley sprinted in for the 2 point conversion and this was a 16-0 game.
Smith, who suffered an ankle injury earlier in the game was hobbled causing him to look like a different player, then I saw last year would throw a pick to Jalawn Parker. At this point in the game I thought this was going to show what kind of player Smith was. The beast I was lucky enough to see last year, or just another player who couldn’t overcome some adversity. If I was a betting man, I would have bet the cream would rise to the top after all was said and done. Time held the answer, as she always has.
Hunley to Wood for 15 yards got things going for the Titans on the ensuing drive. Wood was as wide open as any receiver could be, making the completion way too easy. The drive would end a short time later as the Lions defense would roar loud. Khare Smith would break three tackles to pick up a Lions first down. The kid ran like Carlos Snow on the run, a former C.A.P.E. and Buckeye player.
Smith injured ankle and all would get a 65-yard run where he never stopped running after everyone else had stopped when they thought he was down. After the game, he told me they never tackled him on that play. Ellis would plow in from two yards outs to make this a 16-6 game. Greg Miller would pick off the two-point conversion try pass. The Lions perfected the onside kick, with Zaire Mobley making the recovery. The half would end before the lions could get anything going.
Khare Smith would get to Hunley for a short loss, to set the tone for Lions defense in the 2nd half. At the 8:24 mark of the quarter Derrick Blount came in as the quarterback and quickly picked up what looked like a 27 yard gain when he connected with Derrick Crutchfield, but a flag was thrown on the Lions negating the gain. Blount would be sacked by Isaac Drew twenty seconds later. Smith would come back in the game late in the third and he hit Antonio Fitzgerald for 24 yards and then connected with Derrick Crutchfield for another 24 yard gain. With 2:17 left in the quarter, Khare Smith broke four tackles used a Marion Barber type stiff arm to get into the endzone to make this a 16-12 game.
The Titans offense put together a fine 9 play, 45-yard drive, that concluded with a Hunley 4 yard touchdown run. A two-point run failed to leave this a 22-12 game, with 10:00 minutes left. The Lions would close out an 8 play, 60-yard drive with24 yard Smith to Terry Bishop pass, after a failed two-point conversion, we have a 22-18 game, with 6:55 left. This one was playing up to the ending we had last year.
After getting the ball back, the Lions needed to go 69 yards to take the lead. The first four plays of the drive left only 6 yards to go, for the score. With 1:02 left on the clock, Smith found Bishop for the score. The same combo hooked up for a two-point conversion pass to make this a 26-22 game. With:07 seconds showing on the clock Devean Bush intercepted the Hunley pass to secure the come from behind win.
As I said about if I was a betting man, I would bet on Smith and I would have walked out of the stadium a winner.
The bottom line is the kid is a special talent, that has not come close to reaching his potential.
I used the rosters from hudl.com because there are no programs available for the games because of the hectic caused by the virus.

VERY UNOFFICIAL STATS
Prep
57 plays
279 yards
10-30 passing 2 TD’S 3 INT’S

St. Bernard
66 plays
173 yards
6-16 passing 1 INT

 

#BEYONDTHEKEYSTONE

Link to the rest of the pics

https://www.facebook.com/DavidLewisBurnworth/media_set?set=a.10221122730212311&type=3&uploaded=129

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